Apparatus for closing containers with contactless torque generation

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for treating containers includes a housing, inside which a sterile chamber is formed. A treatment element is arranged inside the housing and is rotatable about a predefined axis. The treatment element is arranged on a carrier inside the housing, and has a drive device for driving the treatment element. The drive device is arranged at least partially outside the sterile chamber and includes at least a first drive element arranged outside the sterile chamber for generating rotational movements, and a second drive element arranged inside the sterile chamber. The first drive element and the second drive element cooperate in a contactless manner to generate rotational movement of the treatment element. The drive elements in each case have at least one magnetisable element and preferably at least the second drive element is displaceable in the direction of its axis of rotation relative to the sterile chamber.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an apparatus for closing containers.Such apparatuses, which are hereinafter also referred to as closingmachines, have long been known in the prior art. They serve to closecontainers, for example plastic containers, with closures. For example,screw closures are screwed onto the containers. In many applications, itis necessary to this end that the containers are guided through asterile chamber and in this way can be closed in a sterile environment.In addition, however, the present invention is also applicable to otherapparatuses for treating containers, such as for example fillinginstallations, sterilisation devices, cleaning units, transport devicesand the like.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,334,380 B2 discloses an apparatus for screwing closuresonto containers. The apparatus comprises a rotatable spindle which has aclosing head at one end and which is connected at the other end to acoupling element, wherein this coupling element comprises a magneticcore and a magnetic bell, which cooperate with one another.

Also provided is a displacement device which can displace the magneticbell and the magnetic core relative to one another between a position inwhich they are in engagement with one another and a position in whichthey are uncoupled from one another. In this way, a coupling oruncoupling is achieved by using a magnetic coupling. EP 0 863 106 A1likewise describes a closing apparatus. In this case, a closing head isarranged on a rotatable spindle. Provided at the upper end of thisspindle is a plurality of permanent magnets which are in each casearranged with alternating poles next to one another. Also provided is arotation-generating means, on which likewise a plurality of permanentmagnets is arranged, wherein a cooperation between these rotatingelements also brings about a rotation of the spindle.

EP 1 186 873 discloses a magnetic coupling device for transmitting andmeasuring torques, which comprises a first and a second body whichrotate in relation to an axis.

DE 203 01 532 describes an electric motor drive. This drive comprises astator extending over a sector of the circumference and a rotor providedwith permanent magnets, wherein in each case run-out zones with run-outsides facing towards the rotor are provided at the peripheral ends ofthe stator, which run-out zones, starting from the curved inner side ofthe stator parallel to the outer side of the rotor, are at an increasingdistance from the outer side of the rotor along their circumferentialextent.

DE 10 2006 039 090 A1 discloses a drive for rotary machines. This drivecomprises a stationary machine part and a rotatable machine part,wherein a collar having a plurality of magnets is provided around thecircumference on one machine part and at least one corresponding statorwhich covers just a partial sector of the collar is arranged on anothermachine part.

In the case of such closing apparatuses, it is usually necessary thatthe closing head is not only rotated but rather also is raised andlowered. For this reason, in the prior art, sealing elements such asshaft sealing rings for example are often provided between the areaslocated outside the sterile chamber and the areas located inside thesterile chamber. In addition, it is also known to insert a so-calledwater lock for sealing purposes between the rotatable and stationaryparts. Furthermore, it is known that in the case of standard fillingmachines the starwheels are driven by means of toothed wheels on thestarwheel column, wherein these toothed wheels are in turn connected tothe main drive.

However, such connections between the sterile chamber and the outsideenvironment usually represent weak points of such closing machines oralso of other installations for treating containers.

The object of the present invention is therefore to provide an apparatusfor closing containers which at least reduces the need for sealingdevices between the sterile chamber and the area located outside thesterile chamber.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An apparatus according to the invention for treating containerscomprises a housing, with a sterile chamber being formed inside thishousing. Furthermore, the apparatus comprises a treatment element fortreating the containers, which is arranged inside the housing and whichis rotatable about a predefined axis. Also provided is a drive devicefor driving the treatment element, wherein this drive device is arrangedat least partially outside the sterile chamber.

According to the invention, the drive device comprises at least a firstdrive element arranged outside the sterile chamber for generatingrotational movements, and the treatment element is coupled to a seconddrive element for transmitting torques, said second drive element beingarranged inside the sterile chamber and being rotatable about apredefined second axis of rotation. In this case, the first driveelement and the second drive element cooperate in a contactless mannerin order to generate the rotational movement of the closing head and areseparated from one another by at least one wall. Furthermore, the driveelements in each case have at least one magnetisable element andpreferably at least the second drive element is displaceable inside thesterile chamber in the direction of its axis of rotation relative to thesterile chamber.

All known types of drive can be used to generate the rotational movementfor the at least one drive element (e.g. electric drives such assynchronous, asynchronous and servo motors; magnetic drives such aselectromagnets or permanent magnets; mechanical drives such as toothedwheels; pneumatic drives, etc.).

A drive device is understood to mean the drive in its entirety, whichultimately drives the closing head to perform rotational movements. Theclosing head is the element which ultimately applies the closures to thecontainers, for example screws said closures onto these containers. Therequired closing torque can be applied by all customary systems (such ase.g. grid coupling, magnetic coupling, servo motor, hysteresis elements,etc.).

According to the invention, this drive device comprises two cooperatingdrive elements, wherein ultimately the rotational movement of theclosing head or of the treatment element is generated by a cooperationbetween these drive elements. A coupling of the closing head and of thesecond drive element in order to transmit torques is understood to meanthat a rotation of the second drive element at least at times bringsabout a rotation, in particular a synchronous rotation, of the closinghead or treatment element.

The magnetisable element may be on the one hand permanent magnets, butmay on the other hand also be electromagnets or also coils for example.In particular, magnetisable elements are understood to mean thoseelements which are able to generate a magnetic field. In particular, thegeneration of rotations of the closing head is possible regardless of aposition of the second drive element relative to its axis of rotation.Moreover, preferably no uncoupling takes place in certain rotarypositions between the two drive elements.

In one preferred embodiment, the first drive element is a couplingdevice which is rotatable about a third axis of rotation and the seconddrive element is a second coupling device which cooperates with thefirst coupling device, wherein the first coupling device and the secondcoupling device are configured in such a way that torques can betransmitted in a contactless manner from the first coupling device tothe second coupling device and/or torques can be generated.

It is provided here that the two coupling devices rotate together, i.e.that a rotation of the first drive element, which is arranged outsidethe sterile chamber, leads to a synchronous rotation of the second driveelement. However, it would also be possible that one of the driveelements is a stator and the second drive element is a rotor which isarranged such as to be able to rotate relative to this stator. Forexample, the first drive element outside the sterile chamber could beconfigured as the stator, which in particular comprises a plurality ofelectromagnets, and the second drive element could be a rotor arrangedinside the sterile chamber. In this case, such an electric motor couldbe constructed either as an external rotor motor or as an internal rotormotor.

Preferably, the apparatus is an apparatus for closing containers withclosures and the treatment element is a closing head which is rotatableabout its own axis. In addition, however, the closing head may also berotatable about a central carrier axis. Preferably, the apparatuscomprises a plurality of treatment elements or closing heads. Thesetreatment elements are in this case particularly preferably distributeduniformly in a circumferential direction in relation to a predefinedaxis of rotation.

In a further advantageous embodiment, the first drive element isdisplaceable relative to the second drive element in relation to atleast one of the abovementioned axes of rotation. In this case,therefore, preferably the second drive element is moved, whereas thefirst drive element is not displaced in the direction of said axes.Moreover, this embodiment would be conceivable both when the driveelements are coupling devices and when the drive elements represent astator/rotor combination. Preferably, the second axis of rotation of thesecond drive element and the third axis of rotation of the first driveelement coincide. In a further advantageous embodiment, the second driveelement comprises a plurality of permanent magnets. It is thus notnecessary to provide current-carrying electromagnets inside the sterilechamber.

In a further advantageous embodiment, the first drive element isarranged inside the second drive element in relation to the second axisof rotation. It is thus possible that the second drive elementcompletely surrounds the first drive element in the circumferentialdirection inside the sterile chamber. In a further advantageousembodiment, the second drive element comprises a rotatable sleeve. Inthis case, the permanent magnets may for example be incorporated in thissleeve or may be arranged on the rear wall of this sleeve.

In a further advantageous embodiment, the abovementioned wall, i.e. inparticular the sleeve or the sleeve-shaped body between the first driveelement and the second drive element, at the same time delimits thesterile chamber. This means that a sterile chamber boundary runs betweenthe first drive element and the second drive element.

In a further advantageous embodiment, at least one magnetisable elementof one of the two drive elements is longer than at least onemagnetisable element of the other drive element in the direction of thesecond axis of rotation. In this way, it is possible for the two driveelements to be moved relative to one another in the direction of theiraxes of rotation, without the rotational coupling between the two driveelements being released in the process.

In a further advantageous embodiment, the magnetic elements of the firstdrive element are longer than the magnetic elements of the second driveelement in the direction of the second axis of rotation. This embodimentallows a particularly easy displacement of the second drive element orof the second coupling device over the first drive element. However, itwould also be conceivable in this embodiment that the two drive elementsare configured as a stator and rotor.

In a further advantageous embodiment, the second drive element isdisplaceable relative to the first drive element by a predefineddistance and the magnetisable elements of at least one coupling deviceor of at least one drive element are at least as long as this distance.In this way, a displacement of the drive elements relative to oneanother by the distance S is permitted, without the magnetic couplingbetween the drive elements being released as a result.

Preferably, at least some of the magnetic elements are permanentmagnets. However, it would also be possible for all the magneticelements to be configured as permanent magnets, particularly if thedrive devices are coupling devices. In addition, however, it would alsobe possible for electromagnets to be used at least in part as themagnetic elements. The advantage of this embodiment would lie in thefact that the magnetic force of these electromagnets could be controlledand thus so too could the magnetic force to be transmitted and thus alsothe torque that can be applied to the closing head.

For example, a control device could be provided which actuates suchelectromagnets in a targeted manner in order to achieve a targetedrotation profile for closing the containers. Furthermore, it would alsobe possible that the spacing between the magnets of the two driveelements is variable or even is variable in a controlled manner. Also,by changing the spacing, ultimately the torques acting on the containerclosure can be varied.

In a further advantageous embodiment, arranged inside the sterilechamber is a lifting cam which brings about a movement of the closinghead in the direction of its axis of rotation. However, it would also bepossible that such a lifting cam is arranged outside the sterile chamberand for example moves the two drive elements synchronously in thedirection of said axis of rotation.

In a further advantageous embodiment, the carrier as a whole isrotatable about a carrier axis and the carrier is coupled to the seconddrive element. In this embodiment, the entire carrier, on which aplurality of treatment elements may also be arranged, is rotated about acentral carrier axis. However, the treatment element is thus alsorotated about said carrier axis.

The treatment device may be not just the abovementioned closing head butrather also other treatment units such as, for example, filling devicesor also transport devices, gripping clamps and the like. A treatmentdevice is thus also understood to mean any device which treats or actson containers. In this embodiment, the apparatus may for example also bea transport device, such as a starwheel, in which a rotatable carrier isdriven in a contactless manner by a magnetic coupling or a motor. Inaddition, however, the apparatus in this embodiment may also be afilling device.

All of the embodiments described above are nevertheless based on thecommon concept that in each case a separation between the sterilechamber and the surrounding environment can be achieved without a highcomplexity in terms of process technology. In each case, a contactlessforce transmission in the sterile chamber is provided. By contrast, inthe prior art, as mentioned above, the necessary components are locatedin the clean chamber and must therefore also be cleaned, and for thisreason in the prior art the electronic components must be designed in acorresponding protection class, which in turn leads to high componentcosts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further advantages and embodiments will emerge from the appendeddrawings:

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic overall view of an apparatus according to theinvention in a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 shows a detail view of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a detail view of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows a further detail view of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 shows an apparatus according to the invention in a furtherembodiment;

FIG. 6 shows a detail view of the apparatus of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 shows a further embodiment of an apparatus according to theinvention; and

FIG. 8 shows a detail view of the apparatus of FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows an apparatus 1 according to the invention in a firstembodiment. The apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is a closing machine, whichcloses containers 10 inside a clean chamber 4 with closures. To thisend, the apparatus has a closing head 6 which screws closures (notshown) onto the containers 10. Here, this closing head 6 is arranged onthe one hand such that it can rotate and on the other hand can be raisedand lowered in the direction of the arrow P1 via a carrier 8. In orderto achieve this ability to be raised and lowered, a cam 38 is providedinside the sterile chamber 4. The closing head 6 is rotatable about afirst axis of rotation X.

The sterile chamber or clean chamber 4 is delimited with respect to thesurrounding environment U by a housing 2, which is shown only in part.Provided outside the housing 2 or sterile chamber 4 is a motor, inparticular an electric motor, which generates the rotational movement ofthe closing head 6. Reference 36 denotes a water lock, known per se inthe prior art, for sealing the sterile chamber 4. More specifically, theelectric motor 26 and also the closing head are rotatable about acentral carrier axis T and, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of suchclosing heads are arranged inside the clean chamber 4. The containers 10are conveyed here on a circular path around the axis T, each of saidcontainers being held by gripping devices 7. It is pointed out that thegripping devices 7 may also be treatment elements for treating thecontainers.

FIG. 2 shows a detail view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, morespecifically of the right-hand side of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. Itis possible to see here that a driven toothed wheel 44 is providedoutside the clean chamber 4 and is driven by a driving toothed wheel 42which is arranged on the motor 26. In this way, a first drive element 22is also driven, said first drive element being arranged geometricallyinside the housing 2 but, as will be shown in more detail below, outsidethe sterile chamber 4. More specifically, this first drive element 22 isarranged between the housing wall 2 a and the closing head 6.

This first drive element 22 comprises a plurality of permanent magnets32 which are rotatable about a third axis of rotation Z and are alsoarranged such as to be able to rotate relative to a first sleeve-shapedbody 20. This sleeve-shaped body 20 furthermore also has a wall or formsthe wall which separates the first drive element from a second driveelement 24. More specifically, the sleeve-shaped body is closed on oneside (in the direction of the sterile chamber 4).

This second drive element 24 likewise comprises a plurality of permanentmagnets 34, which are arranged in the circumferential direction.Preferably both the permanent magnets 32 and the permanent magnets 34are in each case arranged with alternating polarities in thecircumferential direction in FIG. 2. The second permanent magnets 34 arearranged on a sleeve 28. A rotation of this sleeve 28 is thus coupled toa rotation of the first drive element 22 via the magnetic forces betweenthe magnets 32 and 34. The closing head 6 in turn is coupled in terms ofits rotation to the second drive element 24. The sleeve 28 or the seconddrive element 24 is rotatable about a second axis of rotation Y. In thepresent embodiment, the three axes of rotation X, Y and Z geometricallycoincide with one another. However, it would also be possible that theaxes of rotation do not coincide with one another and are for exampleparallel to one another.

It can also be seen that the first magnetic elements 32 are longer thanthe second magnetic elements 34 in the direction of the arrow P and alsoin the direction of the axes of rotation Z and Y. In this way, thesecond drive element 24 can be displaced relative to the first driveelement 22 in the direction of the arrow P1, with a torque couplingalways being maintained between the first drive element 22 and thesecond drive element 24. In the diagram shown in FIG. 2, the seconddrive element is in a lowermost position, i.e. in particular theposition in which the closure can be screwed onto the container 10.

FIG. 3 shows a further detail of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. In thisstate, the closing head 6 and thus also the second drive element 24 isin a highest possible state and it can be seen that here, too, a torquecoupling is possible between the magnets 32 and 34. The sleeve 28 isalso mounted such as to be able to rotate in relation to the axis Z. Inthis way, a purely mechanical contactless separation of the drivecomponents is achieved due to force transmission by means of magnets.The sleeve-shaped body 20, which is closed at the bottom here, protrudesinto the clean chamber. The drive pinion and the shaft are rotatablymounted in this sleeve-shaped body 20. In this case, therefore, thefirst drive element 22 also protrudes at least partially geometricallyinto the sterile chamber 4, but is arranged entirely outside the sterilechamber 4.

In the sterile chamber 4, the sleeve-shaped body 28 with the magnet ring34 is rotatably mounted on a lifting device or the carrier 8. This ispushed over the above-mentioned sleeve-shaped body 20. As mentionedabove, the lifting movements are transmitted by a lifting cam via thelifting element so that a rotation and thus also a torque transmissiontakes place through the described magnetic coupling. However, it wouldalso be possible to generate the lifting movement in the unsterile area,i.e. outside the sterile chamber in the region U, and to transmit thesemovements into the sterile chamber 4 likewise by means of a magneticcoupling.

In this way it is possible to clean all the components in the cleanchamber as required. There is just one opening in the sterile chamber 4,which can be statically sealed and therefore does not have to besubjected to any special hygiene treatment.

FIG. 4 shows a detail view of the two drive elements 22 and 24. It canbe seen that the first drive element with the first magnetic elements 32is mounted by means of bearings 52 and 54 such as to be able to rotaterelative to the sleeve-shaped body 20. The sleeve-shaped body 20 itselfis inside the sterile chamber 4 and is completely closed and in thisform protrudes into the sterile chamber 4. At the same time, the sterilechamber boundary G between the sterile chamber 4 and the surroundingenvironment U is formed by this sleeve-shaped body 20. As mentionedabove, the second sleeve 28 accommodates the sleeve-shaped body 20completely. This sleeve 28 is mounted in a rotatable manner, asindicated by the arrows P2.

FIG. 5 concerns a further apparatus according to the invention. In thiscase, the treatment element 7 is a gripping clamp 7 which carries thecontainer 10. Here too, this gripping clamp is arranged on a carrier 8and is thus rotatable in its entirety about a carrier axis T. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 5, the rotation of the carrier 8 about thecarrier axis T is generated by a magnetic coupling as described in theabovementioned figures.

Here, therefore, the treatment element 7 is likewise coupled to thesecond drive element via the carrier 8. The second drive element 24generates a rotation of the carrier about a carrier axis T and thus alsoof the treatment element 7 or of a plurality of treatment elements 7which are arranged on this carrier 8. In this embodiment, the seconddrive element 24 is preferably arranged such that it cannot move in thedirection of the axis of rotation T. The embodiment of the inventionshown in FIG. 5 concerns in particular a transport wheel or a transportstarwheel.

More specifically, in this case a shaft body 18 is provided, on which inturn the first magnetic elements 32 are arranged. Reference 20 againdenotes here a wall between the two drive elements 22 and 24, and morespecifically again denotes here a sleeve-shaped body which protrudesinto the sterile chamber 4. This sleeve-shaped body 20 is arranged in astationary manner and the carrier 8 is rotatable as a whole relative tothis sleeve-shaped body 20 and also the shaft 18 is rotatable relativeto this sleeve-shaped body. The sterile chamber boundary G is againdefined by this sleeve-shaped body 20, as in the above embodiments.

Reference 56 denotes a line for foam cleaning and reference 58 denotescorresponding spray heads for cleaning purposes. Via a bearing 36, thecarrier is mounted such as to be able to rotate relative to thesleeve-shaped body 20. The bearing can be supported here against thesleeve-shaped body 20. Reference 26 denotes a motor (not shown in anydetail here) for generating the rotational movement of the shaft 18 andthus also of the carrier 8. Reference 60 denotes a filter ventilatorunit for filtering the air in the sterile chamber 4. Reference 64denotes an anchoring of the carrier 8 inside the sterile chamber 4. Thisanchoring serves for stabilising the carrier 8 relative to the bearing36.

FIG. 6 shows a more detailed view of the drive unit of FIG. 5. It isalso possible to see here once again the magnetic elements 32 and 34, itbeing pointed out that in this embodiment these magnetic elements andthus also the drive elements 22 and 24 are not movable relative to oneanother in the direction of the axis of rotation T. Such a displacementis not provided in this embodiment. The principle shown in FIGS. 5 and 6can be arranged on customary transport devices such as transportstarwheels, with the containers in this case always being transported ina clean chamber. It is pointed out that the embodiments shown in FIGS. 5and 6 on the one hand and 6 to 7 on the other hand can also be combinedwith one another. It would also be possible to bring about both therotation of the gripping elements 7 about the central carrier axis T andalso the rotation of the closing heads 6 about their own axis in eachcase by means of magnetic couplings.

FIG. 7 shows a further embodiment of the present invention. Here too,the closing head 6 is arranged on a carrier 8. In contrast to the aboveembodiment, however, here the carrier 8 itself is arranged in arotatable and also height-displaceable manner in the clean chamber 4.

In this embodiment, the carrier 8 is also the second drive element 24.The magnetisable elements 34 are in this case likewise held on thesecond drive element 24. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, themagnetisable elements 32 do not serve only to transmit a rotationalmovement but rather also to transmit a lifting movement. Themagnetisable elements 32 are in this case arranged on a drive rod 92(cf. FIG. 8). The drive motor 26 drives a driven toothed wheel 44 via adriving toothed wheel 42, and said driven toothed wheel is in turnconnected to the drive rod 92 in a rotationally locked manner.

The drive rod 92 is guided in a guide device 78 and comprises anactuating element 74 which cooperates with a guide cam 72. This guidecam 72 is arranged on the shaft body 84 in a height-displaceable mannervia a carriage 82, the shaft body being rotatably mounted in thecarriage. Alternatively, the height-displaceability of the guide cam canalso be achieved by means of an electric drive, e.g. a linear motor or aservo motor.

Reference 46 denotes a so-called water lock which serves for sealing offthe sterile chamber 4 relative to the surrounding environment.

FIG. 8 shows a detail view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 7. It ispossible to see here in particular that the first magnetisable element32 is composed of three sections 32 a-32 c which can in each case bemagnetised independently of one another, and also the secondmagnetisable element 34 is composed of three sections 34 a-34 c whichcan in each case be magnetised independently of one another.

Specifically, references 32 a and 34 a in each case denote upper liftingmagnets and references 32 c and 34 c in each case denote lower liftingmagnets, wherein references 32 a and 32 c in each case refer to theinner lifting magnets and references 34 a and 34 c in each case refer tothe outer lifting magnets. The upper and lower lifting magnets cooperateduring the lifting movement of the closing head and cause the carrier 8to follow the movement of the magnetisable element, which is denoted inits entirety by 32.

References 32 b and 34 b denote the inner and outer rotating magnets,which cooperate in order to generate the rotational movement of thecarrier 8 and thus also of the closing head 6. In this embodiment theclosing head is held only with magnetic forces.

It is also possible that the magnetic coupling is constructed as anadjustable overload coupling. To avoid mechanical damages, the seconddrive element 24 can be moved in the longitudinal direction beyond adefined amplitude upwards or decouples. Such events of fault can occuroften, if during lowering of the closing head during the closingprocedure the closing head and therefore the second drive element 24 areblocked in the movement although the first drive element continues tomove downwardly.

In a preferred embodiment the coupling is constructed such that thesecond drive element 24 after termination of the fault caused fromoutside moves in its home or coupling position.

If switchable holding magnets are used for the lifting movement, themagnetic force can be switched off for changing the closing head and thesecond drive element can be drawn downwardly or falls downwardly.

By using sensors or the use of electric magnets the height-deviation ofthe second drive element with respect to the first drive element can bedetected and can also be detected and devaluated during the closingprocedure.

By virtue of the suitable setting of the magnetic force (which ispreferably electrically adjustable) it is also possible to exert adefined pressure on the closure head during the closing procedure. Inthis case the first drive element 24 drives further downwardly (againstthe magnetic force) as admitted by the second drive element. Thereby thetwo drive elements are displaced with respect to each other and thewhole unit works as a magnetic spring.

Here, the magnetisable elements 32 a-32 c are in each caseelectromagnets which are separately supplied with current via cableguides 86 and 88. By suitably supplying current to the magnets 32 bwhich are responsible for the rotation, it is also possible to adjust orvary the torque that can be transmitted. By suitably supplying currentto the magnets 32 a and 32 c via the cable guide 88, it is possible tovary the lifting forces that can be transmitted, so that the pressureforces during the closing process of the combination of containers andcontainer closures can accordingly also be specifically set.Furthermore, the coupling force is adjustable in such a way that thefirst drive element 22 can be further lowered in the event of a closingerror, such as e.g. a closure arranged at an angle, but the second driveelement 24 can nevertheless remain in the locked height position. Thisprevents any mechanical damage to the components. In this embodiment,therefore, there is no need for a sprung closing head, i.e. the closinghead 6 does not contain any spring elements with a spring action in thedirection of the axis of rotation X which are difficult to clean andentail a certain hygiene risk. The respective outer magnets 34 a, 34 band 34 c are preferably each configured as permanent magnets.

References 94 and 96 denote auxiliary guides for guiding the carrier 8on the support body 20, which at the same time forms the sterile chamberboundary G here. The auxiliary guides can also serve to prevent thecarrier 8 from falling from the support body 20 (for example in theevent of power failures). To this end, protrusions (not shown) arearranged at the lower end of the support body. The auxiliary guidesand/or protrusions are designed in such a way that the carrier 8 isfixed axially in substantially the lowermost height position by means offixing elements (not shown) which can easily be released. By releasingthe fixing elements or the protrusions (not shown) and by switching onthe magnets 32 and/or 34, it is possible to pull the closing heads 6together with the carriers 8 away from the corresponding support bodies20 and thus to remove and replace the closing heads 6 together with thecarrier 8. However, these auxiliary guides allow both a rotation of thecarrier 8 relative to the support body 20 and also a lifting movement ofthe carrier 8 relative to the support body 20.

The applicant reserves the right to claim all the features disclosed inthe application documents as essential to the invention in so far asthey are novel individually or in combination with respect to the priorart.

LIST OF REFERENCES

-   1 apparatus-   2 housing-   2 a housing wall-   4 sterile chamber, clean chamber-   6 treatment element, closing head-   7 treatment element, gripping device-   8 carrier-   10 container-   18 shaft body-   20 sleeve-shaped body, wall, support body-   22 first drive element-   24 second drive element-   26 motor-   28 sleeve-   32 magnetisable elements-   32 a magnetisable section, inner upper lifting magnet-   32 b magnetisable section, inner rotating magnet-   32 c magnetisable section, inner lower lifting magnet-   34 a magnetisable section, outer upper lifting magnet-   34 b magnetisable section, outer rotating magnet-   34 c magnetisable section, outer lower lifting magnet-   34 magnetisable elements-   36 water lock-   38 cam-   42 driving toothed wheel-   44 driven toothed wheel-   46 water lock-   52, 54 bearing-   56 line for foam cleaning-   58 spray head-   60 filter ventilator unit-   72 guide cam-   74 actuating element-   76 support body-   78 guide device-   82 carriage-   92 drive rod-   X first axis of rotation-   Y second axis of rotation-   Z third axis of rotation-   T carrier axis-   G sterile chamber boundary-   P1, P2 arrows-   U surrounding environment, area outside the sterile chamber

1. An apparatus for treating containers, comprising a housing, insidewhich a sterile chamber is formed, comprising a treatment element fortreating the containers, which treatment element is arranged inside thehousing and is rotatable about a predefined axis, wherein the treatmentelement is arranged on a carrier provided inside the housing, andcomprising a drive device for driving the treatment element, whereinthis drive device is arranged at least partially outside the sterilechamber, wherein the drive device comprises at least a first driveelement arranged outside the sterile chamber for generating rotationalmovements, and the treatment element is coupled to a second driveelement for transmitting torques, said second drive element beingarranged inside the sterile chamber and being rotatable about apredefined second axis of rotation, wherein the first drive element andthe second drive element cooperate in a contactless manner in order togenerate the rotational movement of the treatment element and areseparated from one another by at least one wall, and wherein the driveelements in each case have at least one magnetisable element andpreferably at least the second drive element is displaceable in thedirection of its axis of rotation relative to the sterile chamber,wherein a sterile chamber boundary runs between the first drive elementand the second drive element.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the first drive element is a coupling device which is rotatableabout a third axis of rotation and the second drive element is a secondcoupling device which cooperates with the first coupling device, and thefirst coupling device and the second coupling device are configured insuch a way that torques can be transmitted in a contactless manner fromthe first coupling device to the second coupling device.
 3. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is an apparatusfor closing containers with closures and the treatment element is aclosing head which is rotatable about its own axis.
 4. The apparatusaccording to claim 3, wherein inside the sterile chamber is a liftingcam which brings about a movement of the closing head in a direction ofits axis of rotation.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thefirst drive element is displaceable relative to the second drive elementin relation to at least one of the axes of rotation.
 6. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the second drive element comprises aplurality of permanent magnets.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 6,wherein the permanent magnets are arranged with alternating polaritiesin the circumferential direction.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the first drive element is arranged inside the second driveelement in relation to the second axis of rotation.
 9. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the magnetic elements of the first driveelement are longer than the magnetic elements of the second driveelement in the direction of the second axis of rotation.
 10. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second drive element isdisplaceable relative to the first drive element by a predefineddistance and magnetisable elements of at least one coupling device ( )are at least as long as the predefined distance.
 11. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the carrier is rotatable about a carrieraxis and the carrier is coupled to the second drive element.
 12. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein a water lock is provided to sealthe sterile chamber.
 13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thesterile chamber is delimited with respect to the surrounding environmentby a housing.
 14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the firstdrive element is arranged geometrically inside the housing but outsidethe sterile chamber.
 15. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thesecond drive element comprises a rotatable sleeve.
 16. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein a sleeve shaped body is arranged betweenthe first drive element and the second drive element.
 17. The apparatusaccording to claim 16, wherein the sleeve shaped body delimits thesterile chamber.
 18. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein thesleeve shaped body is closed in the direction of the sterile chamber.